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Monitoring political decision‐making and its impact in Austria

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  • Adolf Stepan
  • Margit Sommersguter‐Reichmann

Abstract

The range of services provided by the Austrian health care system has been greatly extended over the last few decades. The accompanying measures for long‐term care bring the situation closer to the ideal concept of a ‘seamless web’ between primary, secondary and tertiary care. Due to the expansion in services it has become increasingly difficult to ensure the balance between the financing and degree of usage of the services. The reiterated political aim has been to achieve balanced financing via legally fixed social health insurance (SHI) contributions and taxation. A steadily expanding part is contributed by the private sector. In the 1980s, measures for SHI expenditure containment were implemented; in 1997 a new hospital financing system based on flat rates was introduced. In order to guarantee hospital financing, the historical financing shares of the SHI for the hospitals were introduced in the form of valorised global budgets. The contradictory incentives arising from the flat rates and global budgets lead hospitals to shift services to the primary and tertiary care sector, causing additional expenditure for SHI. Currently, attempts are being made to secure the financing by increasing the SHI contribution rates and patients' co‐payments. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Adolf Stepan & Margit Sommersguter‐Reichmann, 2005. "Monitoring political decision‐making and its impact in Austria," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(S1), pages 7-23, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:14:y:2005:i:s1:p:s7-s23
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.1026
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    Cited by:

    1. Kristian Bolin & Anna Lindgren & Björn Lindgren & Petter Lundborg, 2009. "Utilisation of physician services in the 50+ population: the relative importance of individual versus institutional factors in 10 European countries," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 83-112, March.
    2. González, Paula & Macho-Stadler, Inés, 2013. "A theoretical approach to dual practice regulations in the health sector," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 66-87.
    3. Bago d'Uva, Teresa & Jones, Andrew M., 2009. "Health care utilisation in Europe: New evidence from the ECHP," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 265-279, March.
    4. Böhm, Katharina & Schmid, Achim & Götze, Ralf & Landwehr, Claudia & Rothgang, Heinz, 2013. "Five types of OECD healthcare systems: Empirical results of a deductive classification," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(3), pages 258-269.
    5. Anna-Theresa Renner & Dieter Pennerstorfer, 2020. "Modeling inter-regional patient mobility: Does distance go far enough?," Economics working papers 2020-04, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    6. Anna-Theresa Renner, 2020. "Inefficiencies in a healthcare system with a regulatory split of power: a spatial panel data analysis of avoidable hospitalisations in Austria," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 21(1), pages 85-104, February.
    7. Michael Irlacher & Dieter Pennerstorfer & Anna‐Theresa Renner & Florian Unger, 2023. "Modeling Interregional Patient Mobility: Theory And Evidence From Spatially Explicit Data," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 64(4), pages 1493-1532, November.
    8. Garcia-Prado, Ariadna & Gonzalez, Paula, 2007. "Policy and regulatory responses to dual practice in the health sector," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(2-3), pages 142-152, December.

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